Last weekend I was making my famous turkey chili to enjoy while watching playoff football.
It doesn’t get much better than that…am I right?!
Truth be told, it’s actually not “my” turkey chili recipe. It was given to me many years ago by a close friend named Mary. I make it a few times every year, usually to enjoy while watching football. Every time I make her chili, I send Mary a picture of the meal simmering in the pot and thank her for sharing her recipe with me.
It’s my way, I suppose, of reminding her – and myself — how grateful I am for the friendship and to remind her that she is appreciated. We’ve been friends with Mary and her husband for about 25 years and have had many visits, dinners, and conversations over the years — and a bunch of dog sitting too!
This time, while stirring the pot, I found myself thinking about career change and how often it feels exactly like cooking without a lot of certainty.
If you’re like many people right now, you may be trying to make a meaningful change in your career. You’ve taken advice. You’ve followed guidance. You’re doing what people say should work. And yet, it can still feel noisy, awkward, and unsettling, like you’re standing in a kitchen full of tools, trying to make something come together without knowing how it will turn out.
That’s where the recipe analogy starts to simmer.
A recipe can help, but it can’t remove uncertainty. Even when you follow it carefully, the outcome depends on things no recipe can fully control.
Timing matters. The moment you’re in professionally matters as much as the move you’re trying to make. What feels right now may not have been right before, and that doesn’t make it wrong.
Ingredients matter. What you bring with you — experience, judgment, energy, perspective, a great story — shapes what’s possible for you. Some elements need refreshing. Others may be stronger than you realize once you start using them differently.
Heat matters. Career change requires judgment about when to push and when to wait. Too much pressure creates frustration. Too little leaves things stalled. Learning to regulate the heat takes patience.
And then there’s the part no one loves to talk about: trial and error. You try things. You adjust. You rethink. That’s not a sign you’re lost! It’s a sign you’re actively working toward something better.
So if your career feels unsettled right now, it may not mean you’re off track. It may simply mean you’re in the middle of making something new. And real change, like any good meal, rarely comes together all at once.
Bon Appetit!
